In pursuit of a fourth-consecutive victory in all competitions to put their previously worrying form to bed once and for all, Aston Villa may be forced to square off against Nottingham Forest will out one of Unai Emery’s star men.
Aston Villa injury news
The Villans have bounced back in style after going as many as eight games without victory in all competitions, since defeating Brentford, Southampton and then RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek. Almost making up for their previous run, Villa’s toughest test awaits this weekend when they face a Nottingham Forest side they can leapfrog into fifth and beyond with all three points.
Jhon Duran was once again the man of the moment in midweek, as he has so often been so far this season. Coming from the bench, again as he so often finds himself doing, the forward’s goal put Villa in the lead before Ross Barkley was left to score an eventual winner following Leipzig’s fightback.
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Aston Villa must rue losing £22m flop who’s now outscoring Duran & Watkins
This former Aston Villa flop has suddenly become a goal machine.
As another tough task awaits this weekend, however, Duran may not be forced to save the day from the bench. As relayed by the Daily Mail, Ollie Watkins is facing a race to be fit to face Nottingham Forest after limping off at half-time against Leipzig – opening the door for Duran to make an impact from the off.
In usual circumstances, losing a player of Watkins’ calibre would be a major blow. In this instance, however, it’s simply a case of swapping one excellent goalscorer for another for Emery this weekend, should his starting forward miss out through injury. Having started just once in the Premier League all season, Duran will be chomping at the bit to take his potential opportunity against Forest.
Watkins injury could pave the way for Duran
Duran is arguably one of the most unfortunate strikers in European football. Not many can say that they’ve taken their opportunities as often as the young forward and still not been rewarded with a starting place. In just 406 minutes of Premier League football – the equivalent of almost five games – Duran has scored five goals in what is a perfect record.
Emery has remained firm with his decision to start Watkins, however, who has scored seven goals himself. But the question over whether accommodating both goalscorers is possible will continue to be thrown in the direction of the Spaniard.
Full of praise for £130,000-a-week Watkins, Emery told reporters as relayed by TNT Sports last season: “He’s amazing. Because he’s a really hard worker and his commitment to work every day is amazing.
“When he is scoring goals, it’s the main objective he can have. Where he is assisting as well, he’s contributing to help the team. But even when he’s not doing both, he’s working for the team.
Alas, the chance could now fall the way of Duran once and for all against Nottingham Forest to stake a greater claim than ever that he should be the forward to lead the line for Aston Villa and Emery.
